Little Kids

I remember being at the hospital, sitting with Brother A. Hugh Clark and his wife, pacing nervously, and watching the lights at the top of the two-pained glass window in what was most appropriately called, "The Daddy's Waiting Room." Suddenly, the light came on. It was pink. I couldn't believe it. A little girl? Then almost as suddenly, a white-caped nurse came briskly into the room guarded by the glass windows, carrying a red, wiggling little thing. "It's yours!" she mouthed through the glass. I nearly hyperventilated from the experience. A little girl.
 
You turn around about twice and they are gone from home, off to school or to work, or to be married. They're out on their own. And they're using what you taught them. That's a scary thought, isn't it? It means that, while it's true that ultimately everyone is responsible for himself, you have something to do with the choices, the turns, the decisions, for the duration of the lives they live.

I wish I had the powers of communication to convince parents of the need to infuse their children with spiritual values. Oh, I know, they are taught such things as honesty, respect, and good manners. I'm talking about spiritual values-those internal principles that will form the basis for their choices in the future-choices that have special significance because they relate to eternity, choices that relate to God, not just their fellows.

"Bring them (children) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," Paul commands (Eph. 6:4). And you no doubt noticed as you read that text that it begins by saying Ye Fathers, bring them up. The "bringing up" all begins with the spiritual direction of the spiritual head of the house, the father. Sadly, many fathers have abandoned their role as the head of the family in this age. The result is family chaos. No one knows for sure who is in charge, where they belong. As a result, children have little if any spiritual direction, and, what with many mothers working outside the home, there is little time for maternal direction either. That means tired, dysfunctional families. It means there is little direction, that most days are spent just going through the motions required by a busy schedule, one that ofttimes is built almost solely on entertainment, one which offers little or no spiritual instruction or spiritual exercises.

The home is not a democratic free society. It is not an organization where every person has the same rights as the other. It's a spiritual order, the family is. It was initiated by God and it is organized as He saw fit. Paul says so in 1 Corinthians 11:3-"For I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." That's what I have chosen to call God's Law of Order. Violate it and there are consequences attached. When it is violated, the family arrangement suffers significant damage. The husband, if he abdicates his role as the spiritual head of the family, forces the leadership to come from some other place. That disrupts the marriage and often elevates the woman to a place God never intended for her, but which becomes necessary on account of the husbands dereliction. Sometimes, because of the newly-approved radical feminism, the wives demand at least equal roles with the husbands and what we end up with is a family where no one knows for sure who is in control. In either case, the family suffers when the roles are not carefully kept. These roles are assigned by God and are necessary to the well-being of the family, both spiritual and secular.

The worst form of child abuse is to bring a child into the world and neglect him. And you do that child the greatest disservice when you neglect to inform him about God, about the spiritual side of man, about the privileges of private worship-especially prayer-and how important it is to put God first in life so that a lively hope is created in the little fellow. Do you teach your children to pray? Fathers, do you spend any time whatever giving spiritual instruction to your children? Mothers, do your children know anything at all about your spiritual values? Have you given them illustration in your daily activities? It's a serious thing to bring a child into the world and instill in him no spiritual values.

We are so busy in this age that time becomes a blur, if we're not careful. And if we don't budget our time, it quickly slips away and all of a sudden we've gone for a month or two without engaging in family worship, or in discussing spiritual things. When Solomon said, "Chastise a child betimes (Prov. 13:24), He is actually saying "follow through," or as the NKJV says, "discipline him promptly." We intend to-that's true. But intentions don't equate to activities. It's not enough to intend. The devil wins when he can cause us to be satisfied with ourselves based on mere intentions. "Bring up a child in the way he should go" is a high priority and it has to be constantly on the mind of good parents.

Little kids. Aren't they great? Little Morgan came into my office this week. We played. She's wonderful. She calls me Papa Dee. We talked about things she understood. It made me realize that I should have spent more time with mine, given them more of myself. May God help us all that we may realize the joy of bringing up a child in the way he should go. And in the process, may God help us to devote whatever time and energy is necessary to cause them-to the best of our ability-to respect and love God and to do good to their neighbor.

by Dee Bowman

"You turn around about twice and they are gone from home, off to school or to work, or to be married. They're out on their own. And they're using what you taught them. That's a scary thought, isn't it? " - Dee Bowman